Jan 28, 2009

Science - Old memories permanently stick to the brain

Washington, Jan 28 (ANI): Distinct brain structures are involved in recalling recent and older events, claims a new brain imaging study, which illustrates what happens to memories as time goes by.

The study has been published in the January 28 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

To reach the conclusion, Christine Smith, PhD, and Larry Squire, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego VA Medical Center, imaged study participants as they answered 160 questions about news events that occurred over the past 30 years.

The hippocampus and related brain structures were most active when recalling recent events. Hippocampal activity gradually declined as participants recalled events that were 1-12 years old and remained low when they recalled events that were 13-30 years old.

In contrast, Smith and Squire found the opposite pattern of activity in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices. In these brain regions - which are located at the surface of the brain - activity increased with the age of the news event recalled.

"Our findings support the idea that these cortical regions are the ultimate repositories for long-term memory," Smith said.

The researchers found that brain activity was unrelated to the richness of memories or to the recollection of personal events related to the tested news events.

"This is the best evidence to date supporting a long-held view about how memories become permanent," said Howard Eichenbaum, PhD, an expert on memory at Boston University who was unaffiliated with the study. (ANI)